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Thursday, December 16, 2010

First time as a Second Shooter

As most of you may know, I assisted Damaris Mia this past Saturday with a fabulous wedding. I feel extremely blessed to have been able to shoot my first wedding & also second shoot for the first time all within passing my first year mark in the photography business. After shooting the first wedding as the primary photography I blogged about it here, so now I'm sharing my thoughts on this too. Hoping it can help someone who has never done it or will be soon!

SIDE NOTE: Luckily for me, this wasn't the first time working with Damaris - she's very talented, sweet & definitely a rising star. Earlier this year she put together a styled shoot & invited me to join her, check it out here. It was a great learning experience for me and I am forever grateful D, I hope you know this.

I never like to make my post go on for days, so I will do my best to keep it short & to the point. My duties as the second shooter were as follows:

Dress accordingly - this was discussed days prior through email

Ask primary for game plan of the whole day (don't want to smother with questions throughout the day) knowing before is key

Stay clear of main photographer at ALL times

Remember that you are there to compliment main photographer

Find different angles to shoot

Offer to carry equipment bags

Shoot candids of bride+groom and guest

During down time offer snack or energy bar ;)

Make sure primary is hydrated throughout the day

As primary was taking family formals, I was inside the reception hall taking detail shots of table settings, flower arrangements, cake, etc... *Note* If Naomi wouldn't have been there to assist with formals, more than likely I would have been helping direct family unless told otherwise

Keep speaking to a minimal, unless asked for opinion or suggestions

ONLY pass out the main photographers business card

The bride & groom opted to do a first look session before the ceremony which left plenty of time for family formals and alleviated stress on their pictures, so I was asked to take the groom ahead and prep him to see his soon to be wife for the first time that day. It was a wonderful moment full of emotions. Image below was seconds before...

Cannot wait to share more from this excellent wedding, but as the second shooter, I MUST LET THE MAIN PHOTOGRAPHER BLOG HER IMAGES FIRST :)